Whats best, Bearings, Guides or Wood for Drawers

Im heading out tomorrow to buy my plywood for my draw plans ive been working on, the only decision I have left is to go either Bearings, Guides, or simply wood.

If I do wood me Mrs will be upset cos she recons she will get sick of dragging them in and out, and since Ive shown her rollers shes fairly certain its what she wants


Below are my thoughts and please note this is my first build and experience with drawers so it all only IMO and open for your thoughts to add any pros or cons

Bearings
Pros,
Slide like roller blades
stronger?

Cons
Can rust
Dirt,Dust,water,
Noisy
More pieces (Breakdown)
Hard to fix,replace
Space consuming
Heavier

Guides
Pros
Thinner than roller bearings
Easily replacable
Lighter in weight
Self locking (if wanted)
Can use for fridge slides
Can mount under drawer not just sides

Cons
many cheap brands
Not as strong as Bearings ??


Well there's my quick thoughts feel free to throw yours in, Id be interested to see what other pros cons there are

Cheers

Depends on your budget.
My draws use sorta a half way idea. It's a complete 12mm ply wood system but the draws run on a nylon type product called uhmw. A thin peice attached to the draw, then another to the frame. Slides like butter, no oil needed, and my draws fill 98% or the frame unlike rolled where you need a 16-20mm gap.
It's all detailed in my draw build

I would be using marine ply, cause sometimes the back of
your Patrol will get wet from river crossings or bog holes.
I don't think rust would be a big issue.
It all about your budget in the end

I have seen Marine ply recommended many many times all over the internet by heaps of people.

I reckon it's rubbish. Marine ply is 19mm and bloody heavy. We are not driving submarines. There is simply no need to go to that much trouble. I have made a few sets of drawes and am a cabinet maker in another life. 12mm drawers and body and 15mm top is Heaps. Less even.

Ply will be fine getting wet for a short time. The water has no time to soak in if it got wet and then drained again. Believe it or not even MDF will handle that guys! If your really concerned then paint all the end grain before you put the pieces together. Then glue and screw. Screwing it together will really dictate that 12mm is the thickness as 9mm might be a bit thin to get a screw into.

I think one of the advantages of using drawer slides is that you can get locking ones that will lock in/out, and that's what I did for the drawers in the back of mine. I found UES in Dandenong to have good pricing and quality slides.

And Mudrunner, I am a bit confused? Marine ply is available in multiple thickness's! It is certainly heavier than the normal hoop pine ply and with all the hoop pine plys now using waterproof glue so they are quite water resistant. In my opinion the difference is more about marine ply being harder wood, screws gripping better and the face's have a superior finish.

That being said, I used a amerind product called lighta ply, which is as the name mentions very lightweight (but not as strong/stiff) and is commonly used in the caravan industry. I found it quite good and my drawers are very very light, however it is quite soft and next time I would probably use marine ply instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crate

I think one of the advantages of using drawer slides is that you can get locking ones that will lock in/out, and that's what I did for the drawers in the back of mine. I found UES in Dandenong to have good pricing and quality slides.

And Mudrunner, I am a bit confused? Marine ply is available in multiple thickness's! It is certainly heavier than the normal hoop pine ply and with all the hoop pine plys now using waterproof glue so they are quite water resistant. In my opinion the difference is more about marine ply being harder wood, screws gripping better and the face's have a superior finish.

That being said, I used a amerind product called lighta ply, which is as the name mentions very lightweight (but not as strong/stiff) and is commonly used in the caravan industry. I found it quite good and my drawers are very very light, however it is quite soft and next time I would probably use marine ply instead.

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There you go, I have only ever seen Marine ply in a 19mm commonly found at Bunnings and alike. I just think its over rated for our application. It is nt going in a boat that requires ongoing submersion. Water will only damage if it has time to soak in and swell the veneers. A coat or paint will fix that ;)

I highly recommend lining the inside of your drawers with carpet as it will limit the rattles from inside the drawers.

I made my draws 12 years ago and the top is just a standard ply covered in carpet, I put wet scuba gear on it!

Crate were you talking about marine ply or form ply ? Form ply has the black coating

No not talking about formply, hoop pine ply or structual ply is generally C/D or B/C face quality, marine ply is A/A face quality. Form ply with the black plastic coating is different again and that is available in only 17/19mm thicknesses.

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Originally Posted by

Plywood face veneer qualities

Plywood comes in a variety of face veneers for both decorative & non decorative uses.

Mister Ply&Wood stores have a range of face qualities available, from AA appearance grade & Marine Plywood to CD, DD & Pallet grade plywood.

Plywood veneer face quality "A" grade

A Grade Face
Veneer quality "A" has an appearance grade face with no visible defects. "A" grade veneer faces are suitable for clear finishing. Suitable to be used in applications where surface decorative appearance is a primary consideration.
Species include Hoop Pine & Marine Ply.


Plywood veneer face quality "B" grade

B Grade Face
Veneer quality "B" has an appearance grade face. B grade veneer faces are suitable for high quality staining and paint finishing. However small, sound knots are allowed in a B grade face. Plywood species include Fijian Cedar, Hoop Pine, Kauri Pine and Radiata Pine.


Plywood veneer face quality "C" grade

C Grade Face
Veneer quality "C" is a non-appearance grade face with knots and defects filled. C grade veneer faces are for applications requiring a solid non decorative surface.
A CD plywood sheet has a face veneer quality of C grade & a back veneer quality of D grade.


Plywood veneer face quality "D" grade

D Grade Face
Veneer quality "D" is a non-appearance grade face where limited knots are defects are permitted. D grade veneer faces are suitable for applications where appearance is not important such as structural purposes.
A DD plywood sheet has a face and back veneer quality of D grade.

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(In my opinion the difference is more about marine ply being harder wood, screws gripping better and the face's have a superior finish.)

Im with you on that crate, it is more heavier yes, but it does also create greater security than normal ply when locked up, yep theyl still get in if they want (just as much as any steel ones) but its more about making it harder/longer to break in, (gives me time to load me gun lol) I intend on carrying some pretty expensive stuff in mine so im certainly looking at doing 19mm top, uprights and drawer faces. Ill do 12mm base and draws.

UES, I just looked em up, theyre just around the corner from McNaughtans, did you price theirs out, Ive looked on their site today and only seen 60kg and 225kg slides, 60kg right on the boarder for me and 225kg will hold pigs up. im hopin for more like 100kg, ill check em out tomorrow

thanks

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Originally Posted by Smoothrun

Ive looked on their site today and only seen 60kg and 225kg slides, 60kg right on the boarder for me and 225kg will hold pigs up. im hopin for more like 100kg, ill check em out tomorrow

thanks

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They still do the 100kg

http://uesint.com/shop/industrial-dr...kg-420-76-362/

I wish I grabbed some from work before I left the mob that i worked for, could of done my own draws :(

Let me know how much you can get them for if u decide 2 go the UES ones and I'll see if I can get a better price

From memory I got the 125kg 1000mm extension slides, they were roughly $80 a pair. I got two pairs of locking ones, but if I did it again I would get one pair of locking and one pair normal then swap one side so each drawer had only one locking slide. Only having to activate one little latch per drawer would make opening and closing much easier but you would still be able to lock the drawer in and out which is very very handy.

Thanks for the offer NGQ4.2, Ill head into Dandy tomorrow and get back to ya,

If ya hadda grabbed a pallet before ya left the mob ya coulda bought yaself some black widow drawers lol

Cheers

How about smaller drawers? am filling up some of the space beside my fridge with smaller ones. don't think that i need bearings etc...thoughts?

I use UHMW (tough as nails nylon) strip for my full size draws..
Easily 40 kilo in the recovery draw and it slides very well..
I like timber and nylon as you loose stuff all room between the draws..
Just search westy's draw build for the thread